Uzbekistan receives EU aid to combat COVID-19

Tashkent: The European Union has allocated more than €2 million for the implementation of a project aimed at supporting an effective, prompt and coordinated response to COVID-19 in Uzbekistan, Trend reports referring to the press service of the Delegation of the European Union to Azerbaijan.
The funds will also be used to provide personal protective equipment for employees of medical institutions who do not work with patients with coronavirus infection.
‘The project, which will be implemented by the country office of the World Health Organization, is primarily focused on providing medical workers and personnel who are in direct contact with patients in medical institutions, with personal protective equipment,’ the statement said.
In Uzbekistan, all available personal protective equipment is used for work related to the identification, triage, testing, isolation, and treatment of COVID-19 cases.
In this regard, healthcare professionals dealing with patients who do not belong to the category of patients with suspected or confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 are left without means of protection, for example, in maternity hospitals, clinics for tuberculosis and HIV patients, dentistry, polyclinics.
‘The procurement of WHO-recommended personal protective equipment, not only for healthcare providers dealing with COVID-19 patients but also for workers in other healthcare services and facilities, is essential to reduce the spread of COVID-19’, said the statement.
It was also noted in the statement that the project will help strengthen infection prevention and control measures by purchasing sufficient high-quality personal protective equipment for Uzbekistan’s health workers over the next two years.
Meanwhile, Uzbekistan’s total number of novel coronavirus cases has reached 55,543 on Monday, the press service of the country’s Health Ministry said. According to the report, 411 fresh cases were identified over the past 24 hours, 507 more Uzbekistanis have recovered, 9 new virus-linked deaths were registered.–Agencies